Down The Rabbit Hole - Part One
Docking Hub - Comorro Station Comorro Station isn't exactly a station. It doesn't remain in any one place for a significant span of time. It is, in all accuracy, a massive starship - incapable of atmospheric flight - that has been roaming the stars on a voyage that some say has lasted for more than 90-million years. The vessel is a Yaralu, a sentient spacefaring vessel. Her true full name cannot be spoken in a single day, but is shortened for convenience to Comorro. Several epochs ago, after her final era of fertility ended, she converted the gray-green ribbed chamber of her womb into a docking hub for smaller Yaralu and non-organic vessels. She made it known to the denizens of Hiverspace that she would serve as a neutral outpost for traders and diplomats. Use of energy and projectile weapons is prohibited aboard Comorro. Violators will be absorbed into the vessel's nutrient replenishment matrix. She is capable of monitoring almost all chambers within the station for illegal weapons, but some areas - such as the Forgotten Quarter - are lost to her neural pathways and sensory organs. A makeshift ramp has been built about thirty feet from Zero Gravitas' airlock from a crate and a light armor plate, with no apparent purpose. Tamila makes her towards the Tharsis, with a PDA in hand. She's working at a fevered pace on the device, appearing to be double checking her working out before being due to leave. Tharsis is meanwhile projecting his avatar at the rear, looking over the launcher in place. Tamila makes her way down the back of Tharsis, pausing near the avatar. "How's it lookin' Thar? Reckon it ain't gonna stick?" she asks. "I think structurally it'll hold." Tharsis says. "I'm finishing the final link ups to my neural net so I can control the launch. From what I can tell from preliminary scans, these things are going to pack a punch." he comments happily. Tamila blushes and grins. "Yeah, I've sort of been tweeked out a bit on some meds a doctor gave me," she admits. "They help keep me focused. So I took the time to try and create somethin' with a lot of punch. I know I don't wanna get caught in the range of one of them." Tharsis nods. "I've got a course planned that will allow me to drop one while moving so we can get to safe distance and watch the fireworks. Should be quite a show." "It will be for those who can see beyond the standard light spectrum," Tamila replies with a bit of a frown. "I imagine the rest of us might see some compactin' of dust, and that's 'bout it. You're gonna be puttin' it up on the main screen? I just thin' it'll be good to see." "Oh I'll have so many views of it running, you'll need a dozen eyes to see them all." Tharsis says with a grin. "I'll have EM, infrared, ultraviolet, visual spectrums, the works." "Just hearin' that, makes me wish I was fully jacked," says Tamila with a bit of a frown. "Well, at least we'll get some solid information from the test and see how it can be enhanced." Tharsis nods. "I'll be compiling the data for later review as it comes in. Should be fun!" Tamila grins and nods. "It should be. I'm hopin' there ain't any duds in there, 'cause I ain't gonna be happy if we've got a dud mine sittin' out there." Tharsis nods. "Yeah. Could be dangerous if it goes off unexpectedly. We can make the final call if that happens, but in that case destroying it might be preferable." Tamila slowly nods to Tharsis. "Of course," she says in agreement. "I'm not getting that close to a dud mine, it'll just be ugly. A controlled explosion would be the easier way to go." Tamila's down aft of Tharsis, with the avatar. They're both looking up towards a launcher attached to the rear of Tharsis. Tharsis nods. "I'll have my pulse cannon charged just in case, but I'm confident this should go off without a hitch. I'm running a diagnostic on the launcher system now." A fair amount of the regular traffic presently in and out of Comorro Station are the shuttles to and from the Svajone. One such shuttle has recently landed, and disgorges the one and only Varal. Currently sans coffee. "That's in your field, Thar" Tamila replies to Tharsis. "I know nothin' 'bout space gunnery. Just space based mines." Her attention slips back down to the PDA again, before a little blue light switches on, on the side. "How's this formula look to you?" Tamila and Tharsis, are at the aft of Tharsis, looking at his launcher. Varal's just left a shuttle that's come from Svajone, though he doesn't have coffee. Tharsis looks down at the formula, studying it for a moment. "Looks good... of course local conditions are always going to be a variable." Varal scratches the stubble on the side of his face, and begins to meander aimlessly in the general direction of the Tharsis. Norran meanders into the docking hub, whistling some likely-legendary ballad in its origin disasterously off-key. He seems to pay it no mind, carrying a dazzling smile with his hands folded behind his back as he takes a careful glance about the bay. Anyone who usually sees him would notice he's apparently grown comfortable enough to wear some of his old jewelery, while anyone else would likely assume he mugged someone. "You're right," Tamila says in agreement with Tharsis. "I'm just hopin' that all the rules of physics apply here. I thin' it will, ain't seen anythin' to suggest it don't. Well despite people poppin' up in this universe." The TKer rubs at the side of her face, and then shakes her head. "I'd still love to know how and why they end up here, instead of out in space." She glances back towards the Fastheldian as he approaches, and offers a nod. Tamila and Tharsis (the avatar) are down aft of Tharsis (the ship) looking at his launcher. Varal's wandering towards the Gravitas. "A good question. Perhaps some sort of 'current' through time and space? It's been postulated that travelling through time can often be considered like travelling through a river, and there are eddies and currents that can affect where you end up." Tharsis says. The hatch of the DMC cycles open, and who should step through but Subhan. It's easily assumed she'd come out to look for Norran and have a visit, and it seems she won't have to look far. Not far at all. The off-key tones of her Cousin's whistling draw her attention, her expression at first cringing, then somewhat amused as she sees who's brutalizing the song. Where there is Tam, one big gray Demairna can't be far behind. Plumpaw makes a circuitous arc around people and ships to arive at a point in space behind Tam, and begins the slow-motion stalk towards the smaller TKer, with a bundle of pink polished fabric in one hand. Varal returns Tam's nod. "Of all the people to carry on the rich tradition of Fastheld's music," Varal mutters to himself, sadly, but let's the thought trail off. He frowns at Tharsis a moment. "I've found, when boating, you have to deal with eddies and currents, but if you chart them you can use them to speed up your trip - make things easier. Fighting them usually ended in disaster." He obviously has no clue what the avatar is actually talking about. And the airlock on the Zero-Gee opens, a petite Sivadian making her way down the ramp. She stops long enough to put on a pair of shades, looking around as she does and then makes her way toward Tam and Tharsis (the avatar). Snowmist ambles from the tradeport with ears laid back in uncertain exasperation, squinting at a small scrip of paper held delicately between two claw tips while her other hand clutches a half-gnawed shishkebab of unidentifiable root sections and some sort of greasy meat. "...needta get 'im some glasses next time...maybe somethin' with a negative magnification t'get 'im to write bigger," she mutters as she begins to weave between the ship berths, trying to match whatever is written on the paper to a vessel. It seeming to be the popular destination, Norran's whistling is mercifully halted as he takes note of the gathering around Tharsis. Relaxing somewhat and loosing his hands from behind him, he makes his way casually in their direction. Subhan is easily noted as well, the swordsman flashing a quick smile and gesture in her direction to join as he walks easily in the crowd's direction. "You could be right," Tamila replies to Tharsis, slowly nodding. "And considering how fast Comorro does travel, in our eyes, it's possible that she was in the right place in space at the right time. Maybe in twenty years, the area where Comorro is now could be properly researched." She then shakes her head as she looks towards Varal. "No, I think plotting is a lot harder. Instead of flowing how time usually flows, I'm willing to assume this is a junction of some sort, a focal point of at least four different universes. Three of the universes that are no doubt destroyed." She's unaware of Plumpaw's stalking, which seems usual. Or even Bri's approach. Plumpaw notes the mass of people gathering around Tamila, and hesitates,apparently rethinking the shiny pink fabric. She tosses it over her arm and hooks her paw on her hip with a resigned sigh before walking towards Tamila without devious stalking intent. Tharsis nods. "A crossing of several rivers of time... that could be a possibility." he notes. "Well, I think this launcher is as ready as it's going to get. We should start getting everyone on board who wants to watch this thing go off. I've got the good silverware set out." he says with a smirk. Varal just sort of stares at Tamila, completely lost. And, sadly (at least for Tam), still without coffee. Subhan quirks a demure smile in Norran's direction, a slight nod offered towards his gesture before she begins to make her way down the DMC's ramp. Her path is relatively straight forward, though there is need to skirt around a few other people, Plumpaw and Bri, largely, in order to take up residence at her Cousin's side. Bri continues on her way, coming up beside Tam, softly singing: T'was brilling, and the slithy toads Did gire and gimbel in the wabe.. She stops as she nears though, "Ready?" she asks looking between everybody that's there. "How does this thing work again?" this last is addressed to Tam and Tharsis. Norran also stares at Tamila once he arrives in quite the exact same manner as Varal. He seems to get over it a lot quicker however at Tharsis's words, his face lighting up a little. "A 'launcher'? Are we assaulting a citadel today? This must be the most lackadaisical military operation I've witnessed in my entire life. That would explain the quality of soldiers I see about these days, however," Norran purports, his tone amused as he strokes his chin thoughtfully. "And staging a /banquet/ during it, at that? An absolutely brilliant idea. I believe Toladin Lomasa, roughly a hundred or so years ago attempted the same, but an errant bit of pitch fell on the holiday pheasant. The entire table was ruined, of course, to say nothing of the pheasant." He offers a bow of his head as Subhan approaches, but remains quiet to watch the goings-on. Snowmist wanders up and down three rows before she gives up with a chuff, sliding another piece of unidentifiable root off the stick to chew on in her frustration. Absently scratching behind an ear as she considers her predicament, she eventually eyes the largest group - currently gathered around the Tharsis - and begins to wander her way there, ears pricking curiously at the sing-song rhymes which occassionally punctuate the chatter Plumpaw nips up stealthy like behind Tamila and waits, observing the gathering group with distant, ear-flicking curiousity. Subhan doesn't stare openly at Tamily - she's far too polite and courtly for that, but there is some manner of confoundment upon her features, the Baroness not getting over it so quickly as Norran would. She shakes her head in an attempt to dismiss it, but the mild frown furrowing her brow makes clear that she's just as lost as Varal is. "I think it might be a more deliberate crossing of the rivers of time," Tamila concludes. "Especially since we know two of the three destroyed universes were destroyed by the kamir - The self-appointed 'masters of time and space'." She glances towards Varal and notices his blank look. "Ah, Varal wasn't it? You lookin' for somethin' to do?" Her hand slips into her jacket before she starts to pull out some Hekayti credits. "Two hundred for a couple of hours work. Just grabbin' me coffee when I ask for it and..." She trails off, finally seeming to notice the mass of people around Tharsis. The TKer takes a step forward, then despite her size, her voice is rather loud and still clear. "Alright, listen up," she yells. "If you're curious, we're about to trial a new weapon. If you're one of those scummer lovin' mudlickers, you're welcome to pick it up after we've dropped it. In fact, I insist you pick it up. If you're not a mudlicker, then stay the hell 'way from it." She takes a deep breath. "The device to be trial is a high powered gravitational mine. This works by generating a high area of mass for a brief period of time, before fading away quickly. I could go into the details, but I'm tired of explainin'." She takes a breath, before taking a step back and pretty much falling over Plumpaw behind her. Tharsis nods. "A mine to be delivered to the test range by yours truly. So if you want to come along and watch the fireworks, hop aboard and we'll get this show on the road." he says, offering a friendly motion towards his boarding ramps. "There might even be an inflight meal, and I've got plenty of peanuts. Thank you for choosing Tharsis Airlines, and have a nice flight!" he says with a big smirk as his avatar fades out. As if! The Demarian darts both paws out to catch Tamila, and set her on her feet, with a pat on her shoulder. "Fault of not havin' coffee yet, I bet," Plumpaw says with a sagely nod, as she bends over to pick up the pink silk. Varal shrugs. "Sounds like easy money to me," he says, moving forward. He winces a little at the shouting. "Just promise me those aren't famous last words." From too complicated to too simple, Norran blinks at Tamila. "...mudlickers? I don't see what that has to do with mining. I suppose it doesn't matter, I wonder what sort of creature these 'peanuts' are. Come, won't you, Cousin? It seems like it should be entertaining?" Norran asks of Subhan with a wide smile, giving a laugh as he looks toward Varal. "After everything that's happened to us, I'm beginning to think rushing headlong into unknown and ridiculous circumstances is the only thing keeping us alive! Come along, you know you want to!" With that, he marches his way into the vessel. Bridge The bridge is arranged to permit operation by a single person, but additional stations are available to delegate ship's functions if needed. A main operations console is situated underneath the forward window, with a single seat. On either side of the primary console are two secondary consoles, each with a universal design so that they can accept operations transferred to them from the primary console. Each is equipped with a single seat. Behind the forward section, the bridge is arranged to be comfortable for those who are not involved with flying the ship. A pair of comfortably padded couches line the walls, and the floor has a rectangular area that can raise up to provide a small table if needed. The aft hatchway is situated on the rear wall, between a pair of light fixtures that provide soft lighting for the sitting area. >> Outside the Ship: Snowmist cants her head to one side, an ear swiveling perplexedly back while the other remains fully focused upon Tamila's announcement. "A scummer humpin' muffler-what?" she echoes uncertainly as she finally reaches the peripheries of the gathered group. Tharsis' cliffnotes version, however, earns a delighted pricking of both ears, and the small tear of paper is happily stuffed into a pocket; out of sight, out of mind. "Explosions an' fireworks? Food? Definitely not sayin' no t'that," she muses as she follows the line up the boarding ramp. >> Outside the Ship: Subhan blinks away the further confusion set upon her once more by Tamila before she offers Norran a nod, "Ah, I believe I shall. A worthwhile trip should any entertainment be found, and even more so if I may find myself getting used to such strange things by the end of it. Though we shouldn't hold our breath upon that matter yet." With another litle shake of her head, Subhan makes to follow after Norran. >> Outside the Ship: "Meddelikke," Tamila says, as she looks between Norran and Snowmist. "Eat your mother, your kits, and your rats." She then glances towards Varal and nods. "Good, excellent. Like Plummy said, I need coffee." She then looks up towards Plumpaw as she bends over and picks up a pink thing, and there's a curious look, before she moves and enters into the airlock herself. "C'mon Plummy!" >> Outside the Ship: Varal grins at Norran. "The sad truth, old friend." He then frowns a moment at Tamila. "So. Uh. Where do I get this coffee? They'll have it inside the ship?" >> Outside the Ship: "Do I get peanuts?" Plumpaw asks with a whisker-bristled smirk, and nods as she follows after tamila. "Think y'got yer mine all worked out, huh? A mite different than your standard explosives, soun's like." >> Outside the Ship: Snowmist casts a curious look toward Tamila before she bares her teeth in a toothy grin. "Guess we'll haveta eat 'em first, then, 'fore that happens. Do they taste good?" she drawls wryly before she ducks through the hatch. >> Outside the Ship: "A few nigglin' details, but it most likely won't do somethin' if a calcuation is wrong," Tamila calls back from the airlock. She then peers back towards Varal. "It's on the ship!" Tharsis' voice comes from the overhead speakers. "Welcome aboard everybody. Have a seat and get comfy, and we'll be underway shortly." he says as the gentle roar of his engines begins to fill the background noise of the bridge. Bri makes her way onto the bridge looking around for a moment before slipping to one side and hopefully out of the way. She looks back toward the hatchway, watching for the others. Upon finding a couch when entering, Norran sidesteps his way through the bridge and seats himself comfortably there. He glances about at everything with curious eyes, though mostly confused. He glances downward once he feels the engines. "This is the first time I've been on one of these vessels while it was in motion. I don't suppose they're using oarmen, some sort of power or mechanical means I'd have to surmise. You can't even see anything above you, a strange way of navigation." Snowmist makes her way in along with everyone else, ears twitching as she captures bits and snippets of other conversations while her eyes track over the ship's interior; tail flicking back and forth with blatant interest. "Oarmen?" she chuckles, eyeing Norran curiously. "What's an oarmen? An' quite the sheltered upbringing you've had, eh?" Varal doesn't find a seat, looking around. "Where's the coffee?" Tamila makes her way into the bride of Tharsis, immediately moving over towards the science console and takes a seat. "I'll drop the safeguards once we're clear of Comorro, then activate one mine when we're closer to the range. After that, the ball is in your court, Thar." She glances towards Bri and offers a smile. "Glad you could come, Bri." As the ship starts to move, she reaches into her vest to produce a small tube of pills. She pops it open, then shakes one out and dry swallows it. Before looking towards Varal when he asks his question, "You'll have to ask Tharsis, Varal." She either doesn't notice the banter between Norran and Snowmist, or she hasn't paid attention to it. "You'll find coffee back in the main living area in the kitchen, I've got a pot brewing right now." Tharsis says. His controls appear to operate themselves as he increases power and fires his thrusters to lift off from the floor of Comorro's bay and maneuver into the flight path. His throttle lever moves forward just a bit and the outer bay door increases in size as Tharsis flies through it and out into open space. "Well, the best way I can explain how I move in terms you might know is to imagine what happens when you push on a wheeled cart. The force of your pushing on the cart makes it move forward. My engines can be thought of as pushing against me to propel me through space. Make sense?" Plumpaw files in after Tamila and takes up residence on a couch, with her ear swivelling towards Snowmist and Norran. "An Oarmen? Like wif oars? Not on a spaceship, I don' think. Wouldn't be as efficient as in water." She ponders alound, scratching at the fluff of her cheek. Norran glances toward Snowmist, giving a shake of his head. "I suppose they sheltered me the best they could, but I've been about plenty freelanders, especially when I was in the Blades. Perhaps the accurate suggestion would be that I came from a sheltered realm, as does my cousin and Lord Varal there. And this one has it correct," he notes, inclining his head to Plumpaw. "I don't understand the concepts behind this region very well, so using nautical terms is the best it's been explained to me, and I know they're incorrect." He tilts his head at Varal. "'Coffee' is that bitter tea, isn't it? Why would you drink that? I don't suppose they've any tea prepared? Or, failing that, ale. It may be early in the day, but I have a feeling I'm going to need it." >> Outside the Ship: Deep Space - Gravmine Test Range >> Outside the Ship: An area of space out of the way of major trade routes and Comorro. The area is filled with space dust, obscuring visual contact for several kilometers. Bri moves to find a seat near Tam, "I wouldn't miss this for anything," she says with an impish smile. "I have to see what it is that you've been up to all this time, you know?" she says with a giggle. Snowmist's ears and whiskers droop slowly as she stares at Norran in blank bemusement. "Oh," she says after a moment's attempt at processing the unfamiliar terms. "You're one o' those from the other end o' the timeline...well, kinda. Not really, since we don't have the whole magic thing - or, a different sort anyway," she veers unpredictably through several tangents before refocusing with a snap at the mention of coffee. "Oh, I'd like one! Two sugars an' a cream," she orders cheerfully. "Black. No milk, no sugar, and don't spit in it. Thanks," Tamila tells Varal, teasing when she makes the comment about spitting in the coffee. She then reaches back to check the position of the chair harness, before turning her attention towards Bri, to whom she offers a soft smile in reply. "I hope it doesn't disappoint. Sorry I've been obsessin' over this. Kinda feel bad 'bout not bein' 'round as much as I'd like to be." The TeeKayer looks down to the keyboard, before slowly taking off the safeguards. "Thar, safeguards down. Mines are up. They should be." She raises a hand up to brush an errant strand of hair from her face as she looks up to the console's display. "Oh, forgot to press enter!" Subhan had surely by now taken a seat beside Norran, the Baroness casting a curious, though subdued glance around the bridge, and at the variety of people gathered. It's a bit overwhelming to her, really, however her resolve was such that she would try not to let it bother her overly-much, "Ah. If one is preparing tea-" She notes, looking up with the talk of coffee and of course, Norran's mention of tea, "-and it is indeed available, I should like one too if someone might be kind enough to prepare it." Varal wanders off into the living area. Sounds of clattering can be heard. The occasional curse. Maybe a spill? "I gotcha. I don't know how to put it in nautical terms, cuz I see them as very different things," Plumpaw apologizes to Norran, with a bob of her head, "sorry." She grooms her whiskers out, declines coffee, and falls silent to watch. "Yep, mine status verified Tam. All systems go. Diagnostics reporting no anomalies at this time." he says, and upon hearing the mention of tea, he pipes up. "Tea? Sure thing. I've got a pot of hot water going as well and there's a selection of tea bags back in the kitchen." As he speaks, the throttle lever moves forward into the 'Spindrive' range, and then the view of space outside Tharsis' forward window distorts and then with a flash of bright light appears like the ship is drilling forward through space, the stars spiralling around the ship as it jumps into Spindrive. After a few minutes, the effect vanishes and a large dust cloud appears ahead. "I picked this one up on long range sensors a while back during my last trip out Tam, I figured it would work nicely for the test." he says as he begins to angle into the cloud. "Particle density and composition are within the established parameters, and the EM flux in this area is rather low compared to most nearby clouds." Norran cringes somewhat. "They flavor their own drinks with others' saliva? I'm going to have to be careful what I order from now on," Norran mutters with a shake of his head. "It's been briefly explained to me that our culture resembles that of an ancient culture of one of your realm's isles, but it is not that. No-one even knows which isle we come from." His attention is then set on the display, staring at it for a long while. "So the star ocean is an endless night," he comments idly. Snowmist shrugs as she polishes off the remainder of her snack, gaze straying toward the viewscreens as she idly runs her tongue over the roots of her whiskers. "Eh, the comparison's are starting t'blend in my head. Like this, but not like that...doesn't much matter t'me 'cept you're speakin' something I understand. You've seriously not been out in space before? With a whole docking hub full o' ships?" Bri leans forward to pat Tam's hand, "I am simply glad that you've found something that holds your interest," she says with a smile. "Besides, this could be the next..." she looks around at the others, her shades obscuring her eyes a bit still, "..We'll talk of that later," she says sitting back again. "I'll have coffee also, please. Black as black can be if you don't mind." She settles in then and turns her eyes to the viewscreen. It's not too often that someone wearing a rather large longsword ends up serving hot beverages, but that is what Varal intends on doing as he walks back onto the bridge with a tray in hand. He moves to Tamila first, a mug of black coffee well within her reach. "Long as we ain't in someone's front yard takin' doin' this, it's a good a place as any," Tamila notes to Tharsis. "I think the mines how they are should function perfectly. They're designed to be dropped without bein' touched, so I ain't gonna play with them any more. Finally, the conversation between Snowmist and Norran does get her attetention. "Sweet Akari, most of them ships ain't moved since they arrived. Most ain't even been washed." When her hand is patted, the TKer looks back towards the Sivadian, offering a friendly smile and a nod. "Yeah, it's actually good. Got tired of doin' the tourist crap every day." Tamila nods to Bri, before reaching back to take the coffee, being offered by Varal, with a polite "Than's." Subhan can't help but giggle a little bit at Varal playing server, a hand raised to press to her lips and politely stifle the noise, though the amused smile still upon her lips gives it away. A glance had been taken towards the viewscreen, the endless ocean of darkness littered by speckles of light quite the interesting site, and to Norran she notes, "It is... quite lovely in it's own way, this sea of endless night." "No better time like the present then. Launcher activated." he says, which is accompanied by a soft 'whump' from the rear of the ship. "Grav-mine released..." Tharsis reports as he displays the projectile?s track on his tactical display. "Detonation in 5...4...3...2...1...." The view screen switches to aft view and the grav-mine goes off, sending a tremendous shockwave out from its epicenter that expands outward for nearly a kilometer before dissipating. "Holy shit! Look at that shockwave..." Tharsis exclaims as he watches the light show. "Data?s starting to coming in... wow... that sucker could shatter asteroids with those force levels. I sure wouldn't want to be in the way of one of these things when it goes off!" he says, the data being recorded rolling across his secondary console screen while the screen beside it displays graphs of the various wavelengths being recorded. "A beautiful sight to look at, I'm certain, but too long and the darkness might consume you," observes Norran, eyes set on the happenings. "Quite terrible. The archmagess couldn't generate that sort of power, I'd imagine. It somewhat resembles what I saw that fellow do when the Scourges went after him." At Tamila's comment, Norran gives an easy nod. "Very true. I'm certain they'll grow in their places and everyone will forget what they were used for in the first place." Bri watches the viewscreen, sitting forward in anticipation. The shades come off as the expolsion rocks whatever might be in it's path of destruction, "Holy shit, Tam, you two've created the next mass destruction weapon there." She looks to the TKer, "How much did it take to build that?" she asks curiously. Varal brings the beverage tray next to Norran and Subhan, so they can get their hands on some tea. Plumpaw shifts her scant attention span for the screen, and blinks quickly. "...wow. S'even better than...than...I dunno. That's awesome." She splits a wicked, pearly toothed grin. Tamila keeps her attention on the science console as the count down starts, putting on her seat restraints. "Roger that," she says to Tharsis, rather impassively. She sighs a little bit, looking a little disappointed despite the power of the device. "Can't help but thin' I could have made it stronger." She takes a sip from her cup of coffee, before leaning back and peering towards Tharsis' displays. "Ain't magic, and it won't consume you, Norran. Just science." She then looks towards Bri and then shrugs. "When'd I first start talkin' 'bout the idea? Well, the formula I got from Tharsis. It was just workin' back off the more traditional designs and also data I collected from the spaceliner back in our time." She raises a hand up to the bridge of her nose. "Thar, you feelin' game for a two mine launch?" Subhan is frozen in awe for a moment as she watches the light display, eyes wide and unblinking, "Oh my..." She manages to tear her gaze away a few moment's after Varal's offered the tea, a distracted smile offered up as she takes her own cup of it, "My thanks Lord Varal." Snowmist is momentarily distracted from the smalltalk filling the cabin as she watches the resultant explosion, gaze as pointedly unblinking as if she were stalking prey. "Hrm...an' just what's this to be used for? Defense? Offense? Mining? Simple curiosity?" she purrls. "Sure thing. Mine loaded.. launcher activated." Another whump, and the mine heads out on course to detonate where the first one hit. Once again it explodes with a brilliant display, and Tharsis' data records begin gathering data. As he does, though, he spots something in the data stream. "Hmm... that's odd..." Tharsis says, focusing his tactical display on the spot where the mine detonated and overlaying his sensor readout. "I'm picking up some strange electromagnetic radiation from the epicenter... it's miniscule, but it is increasing in frequency rapidly..." Tharsis focuses in tighter on the odd disturbance, his scanners switching to display the radiation pattern. Suddenly, the spot erupts, and a massive vortex forms in its place, easily two kilometers wide. "What the hell!?" Tharsis exclaims as his alarms begin to wail, the nav console displays indicating that he is being pulled towards it. "UHNN... it's... it's drawing me in!" His throttle lever moves to full and the roar of his engines fills the bridge. Varal is mostly oblivious to the pyrotechnics, focusing on the job at hand. At least until Tharsis' grunt. He blinks at Tamila. "That's bad, right?" Plumpaw sticks a palm to her forehead, and strings her fingers through her short coarse mane. "That can't be good," She says flatly and looks to Tamila with a quiver of her eyebrow whiskers. This time, Tamila tightens the restraints, before reaching into her jacket to produce another bottle of pills. She shakes out two, then takes them and washes them down with the coffee. Her attention goes up towards the tactical display, then the TKer stares in disbelief. "Well, we're inside the event horizon, if that's what I think it is," she utters with a strange calmness. "It'll best if this is destroyed with us. The good news is, we might get to see somethin' not many people get to see. If we're not torn apart before we hit the singularity. Really bad news, it'll feel to us like an eternity as we're torn apart atom by atom." Bri sticks her hand out, "Sounds like I'll need a few of those too," she says as she leans closer. Subhan manages but a sip before Tamila's words find her in a combination of heightened confusion, shock and concern. A frown furrows her brow, grip firm on her tea as she attempts to still the slight tremors which have taken her hands. Speechless, she looks to Norran. Snowmist tries to stand on pure reflex, though the sudden lurch of the engines spinning up to full thrust sends her wisely back into her seat. "What?" she asks incredulously, even as her hands reflexively find the restraints and fasten them. "Event horizon - as in, a black hole? You managed to create a black hole?" Varal continues the beverage service, moving towards Snowmist. Whatever people are talking about - black holes and singularities - he seems to just be filing away as 'bad'. "Well, we were wathing mini gravity explosions a bare minute ago," Plumpaw agrees with Snowmist, and drags her paw across her face in dismay. "Sounds like something Murphy couldn' resist in a million years." "This isn't the time for tea, it seems my aligning this to the power of the Shadow is not altogether incorrect. The foolish misuse of powers greater than ours has ensured our doom, and this is hardly a banquet. Overall, I'm disappointed," admits Norran, frowning somewhat as he crosses his arms over his chest. He remains seated, however, looking over to Subhan with a faint smile. "The reality hasn't affected me, but it rarely does! How very strange. Perhaps I was a little wrong, Varal! But who knows. They'll think of something, won't they? They wouldn't launch a device unknown to them with power greatly transcending anything they could understand, and bring passersby along with them? Then again, Zolor did that and I fell for it quite easily. Maybe this time we'll go back! Or we'll perish horribly in an extremely boring fashion. I won't get over-excited." "Warning... structural integrity overload detected... warning..." begins the operations computer, to which Tharsis responds with "NO SHIT SHERLOCK!!" The sound of straining metal begins to echo through the ship as Tharsis pours power into his engines to resist the pull of the wormhole. "Grav readings don't seem to match a singularity.. at least I hope it isn't." he says, his voice straining as he puts all his effort into escaping. Warning lights begin to flash and buzz all over his status board. Suddenly there is a muffled 'whump' from the rear of the ship, and Tharsis' thrust indicator needles slump to 0 as his master alarm begins to sound. "OWW!.. Damn!.. I just blew my impulse manifold!" he yells, his speed increasing as the pull of the vortex now has nothing to resist it. "I've got no choice... I'm turning around... we're going in this thing whether we want to or not! About all we can do is try for a controlled flight. If this is a singularity, then.. well.. I guess we all die." he says as his maneuvering thrusters fire. The vortex appears in Tharsis' viewscreen, like a hungry maw waiting for a morsel, which grows ever larger as Tharsis rockets towards it. Tamila extends her hand to share a couple of pills with Bri, shaking them carefully out of the bottle. She purposefully drops the bottle, trying to get it to roll towards Plumpaw. She glances towards Tharsis' speaker and glances towards Snowstreak. "Well, Thar would know better. I created somethin' and I hope it ain't a blackhole. But then, these are the dangers of workin' with gravity." Then there's a pause, "Oh yeah. By steppin' on board, you've waivered your right to sue us. You were informed to what was goin' on, especially when I mentioned testing of gravitation mines. That is in case we survive this." Then she sighs again. "This is not the power of Shadow. It's no more mysterious than how a microwave works, or a frag grenade. Nothing mystical about it." "Hey, this kind of thing happens sometime when trying to tailor science. Usually it's just less spectacular," Plumpaw says to Norran, belting herself rather superfluously. "Look at it this way: we could wind up in a history book someday." She winks a greengold eye, and looks back to the screen. Varal looks at Norran. "They speak another language entirely. But the Light Protects, as it always has. That, and faith, is enough, no?" Bri takes the pills and pops them in her mouth, dry swallowing as she continues to watch the viewscreen, her attention focused it seems. Subhan takes to drinking her tea in as quick, though polite a fashion as she can amange, so that she won't spill any in her nervous state of unsettlement. The cup is kept in one hand, pressed against her stomach so that she won't drop it, while the other hand moves to rest upon Norran's shoulder, seeking the comfort of contact. Snowmist stares blankly at the drink abruptly thrust into her grip, not even registering it enough to offer Varal a thank you before he is already past. "Hey, waitamin..." she complains half-heartedly at Tamila's lackadaisical waiving of their rights, ears folding back before she downs a large portion of the coffee in one gulp. "Wait...but he says there's still a chance...maybe...of us surviving?" she holds out hopefully. "Oh? Getting worse? That tends to happen..." Norran admits as things get worse, his brows raised but his expression remaining something of a mix of confusion and disbelief. "Indeed, Mistress, your remarkable understanding of this situation impresses me by the very /second/! While I do not believe it to be Shadow, it seems whether I do or not seems to be rather here or there at this point. I've been not killed by far scarier sights, so I think I'll save the Light any sudden prayer and wait just a little longer." He's quite fine with Subhan, giving a small smile as he watches the display. "Well! This will certainly be interesting!" As Tharsis passes into the vortex, the viewscreen is filled with the image of a long, shifting tunnel, its walls a brilliant display of color that shifts through the spectrum. Shapes, some like polygons, some like other figures including one reminiscent of a rabbit, and other blurry forms fly past as Tharsis does his best to keep himself centered in the tunnel. He lurches violently as the forces within the tunnel buffet him about. "UHN... damn that HURTS..." he says with a strained voice as he fights to keep himself together. "Diverting power to structural integrity field... I feel like I'm about to split apart at the seams!" he says. Tamila just blinks at the sights going past. "Someone's spiked my coffee," she mutters. "Seriously, someone has spiked my coffee." She closes her eyes and takes deep breaths. "You can do it Thar. Keep it together!" Bri watches the sights on the screen, "Wait...we're not really in space, we're in Synapse, right? You broke into my secured area. How devlish of you, Tam. I didn't realize that you were that computer savvy." She sits back, a hopeful look on her face indicative that she might not actually believe what she's saying, but hoping that it'll be confirmed for her. Plumpaw buries her face in the palm of one paw, and settles for listening with alert ears. She draws a deep sigh, and twitches her tail almost irritably. "Oh, this is too much." Subhan murmurs quietly, watching the viewscreen for but a moment before she turns in to hide against Norran's shoulder. Varal glances at the viewscreen, and mutters something under his breath as he moves towards the living area yet again. Norran can only watch, really, remaining in his seat and reaching a hand to pat Subhan's arm comfortingly. Bri's words draw a chuckle from him, "A ruse? I suppose. Well, I'll watch until the curtain falls, as that's the only way to really know, ah-" Norran pausing, glancing over to Varal. "Going to take a nap? And I thought I was difficult to amuse." Snowmist's mouth drops open as her gaze flicks between the screen and each of the others before her jaw closes with a *snack* of teeth and she slumps grimly back in her seat; claws absently flexing into the chair's arm where her empty hand rests as she watches their progress with narrowed eyes. What feels like an eternity passes as Tharsis sails through the wormhole, until suddenly a bright flash precedes a sudden lurch as he is thrown clear, his viewscreen showing a star field once again. His maneuvering thrusters fire in series to eventually bring him to a gentle stop. "Thank heavens..." Tharsis says with a sigh relief. "Another minute of that and I probably would have flown apart. Is everyone ok?" he asks as his display switches to an internal diagnostic and he begins checking his systems for damage. Tamila looks towards Bri and shakes her head. "Me? Synapse? I have trouble gettin' it goin' at times," she admits. Then the starfield catches her attention. "See, that weren't so bad! No one's dead. No one's pissed themselves. It was kinda like that theme park they opened a few years back on level 2. Sure, they had a couple of people decapitated on one of the rides, but no one important got killed." Bri blinks at Tam's reply, "Right..." she says softly. "Wait..so..that's what the old place was? Knew we shoulda gone inside an' checked it out," she says with a pout. Never mind the fact that nobody knows where they are. "I don't feel well," Plumpaw volunteers, moving her paw from her eyes to her stomach. The gray Demarin unfastens her belt and keels over sideways on the couch, arms out and legs tucked up underneath her. "Ugh." She laments, and mooshes her cheek in to the cushion. Varal steps back out of the living area, sans tray. He blinks at Norran. "Why would I be taking a nap?" "Is it over?" Subhan asks, not yet daring a glance back towards the viewscreen, cheek remaining presed to Norran's shoulder, "How unsettling. How terribly unsettling." Delicate sensibilities clearly aren't an asset in this situation. Norran blinks at Varal. "Such a dutiful servant. You weren't listening to them at all, I'd suppose? I probably should've done the same," he admits with a slump of his shoulders and a sigh, giving a smile to Subhan and nodding to her. "It seems so. The only injuries suffered seem to be...nausea. I've trained ponies that pushed me around more than that, so I don't think anything is to be worried about." Snowmist blinks once, twice as they are suddenly spat back into a normal starfield, Tharsis makes the declaration that they are all still alive...and then she releases a long breath, sagging even more into the seat's restraints as she takes a long sip from her coffee. "Anybody got anythin' stronger...?" she mumbles half-heartedly into its depths. "I wonder where in the hell we are." Tharsis ponders as his brings up his scanners to try and match the nearby stars to his charts. Suddenly, his proximity alarm sounds as three large blips appear on his tactical readout, approaching at FTL speeds. The viewscreen then shows three massive vessels dropping to sublight that move into a triangular envelopment pattern around Tharsis, each bristling with large weapons arrays and ordnance launchers that are all pointed at him. Warning beeps sound from the console as the display indicates that weapons lock-ons have been detected. A few moments pass before Tharsis sizes up the situation with a single statement from his voice synthesizer: "Ohhh shit." "Oh, I'd pay attention if I understood what black holes and singularities were. I really have no clue what's going on beyond some fancy lights like magewar," Varal replies to Norran, then looks towards wherever Tharsis' voice is coming from. "But that doesn't sound good, either." Tamila shakes her head to Bri's remark. "Nah, wouldn't want to do that. After the gangers moved in to get revenge for a leader who died, the place turned into a right sniper's alley," she tells the Sivadian. Her attention falls on the viewscreen and the heavily armed ships, before she glances towards everyone on the bridge. "Anyone here speak Hekayti?" "What's this? Pirates?" perks Norran, seemingly pleased with this development. "Perhaps they'll try to board us! It's been too long since I've done something like that." Norran looks back at Tamila with a blank look. "Not in particular." Bri leans forward, standing to get closer to the viewscreen, "Medlidikke you think?" she asks looking back at Tam, "You really think we came through some kinda singularity and ended up in the land of Medlidikke?" Tharsis' comm comes to life with the sound of an alien language which does not sound to be in a particularly good mood. "It sure ain't Hekayti.." he says. "And they don't sound too happy to see us. I'm trying to run it through my translator matrix, but until then, I'm not moving an inch.. because those look like some serious weaponry they've got on us." After a few moments, the language begins to become intelligible, and then the voice, with a bit of an electronic feel due to the translator, begins to speak: "Alien vessel, you have violated the territorial sovreignty of Lothan. You will surrender immediately and be taken into custody or we will destroy you. You have 30 seconds to make your decision." "Singularity, no. Wormhole, yes," Tamila tells Bri, as an edge starts to come to her voice. "I... I don't know, but I'm guessin' if they were mudlickers we'd all be dead by now." She then pales and winces. "I think raisin' our hands and talkin' will be the best option. Who the hell are the Lothan? Ain't ever heard of them 'fore. Snowmist is a silent spectator throughout this, her manner grown still and wary. Even her tail is motionless beside her, only her ears giving the occasional twitch as she follows the various converstions, eyes pinned only upon the displays with their ominous view. Norran puts on a thoughtful expression, stroking his chin. "A simple name, I wouldn't think it too far to say I might've known a few men named Lothan. Common enough in Fastheld. Well, yes, it seems the choice here is rather obvious, and they seem fairly polite if overcautious, diplomacy might solve this. I hadn't intended to spend the afternoon this way, but I've no complaints," he adds. "Oh.. oh my." Subhan murmurs at the translation coming through Tharsis' speakers. Of course, this only warrents clinging even more steadfastly to Norran. Varal purses his lips and moves to find a place to sit down. He shrugs towards Norran. "I prefer situations where I can let my blade do the talking, so we at least stand in a position of some power." Bri looks back to Tam, "Aye, we surrender. No point in dyin' over somebody's stupidity, right?" she says with a quirk of her lips. "This'll be interesting, didn't bring any meds with me." "That's the only thing that depresses me, this is why I hate this sort of thing. Shadow-bombs and wands, nautical battles. So impersonal, relying on machinery to attack where you can't even see what you're attacking. Little to be done in this situation," shrugs Norran of Varal, though he smiles to Subhan. "Worry not, cousin! The fact they've held themselves back this far means they aren't too angry, it's possible they may be purely reasonable." "I don't feel like being blasted to space particles either.." Tharsis says, keying up his transmitter. "In the interests of peace, we respectfully surrender and await your instructions." he translates. After a few moments, the reply comes back. "You will follow the course we are sending and proceed to the capitol city. Do not deviate from this course at any time, or you will be obliterated." The comm clicks off, and the ships move ahead of Tharsis. "I've got my engines on emergency power, I just hope they'll hold." he says as his throttle lever moves forward to follow the ships. "Wasn't there an old saying.. out of the frying pan, and into the fire?" Tamila wrinkles her nose as she looks towards Bri. "You can have those anti-anxiety ones if you want," she says. "Or they might be good enough to perform medical tests and then tailor medication from there." She rubs her hands together and grins at Tharsis' remark. "Hopefully we can turn a profit today, too. Ain't nothin' like makin' money and meetin' new, heavily armed people." Subhan manages a stiff nod and a wane smile, the woman still too unsettled to brush away the fear she held with what reassurances were offered, though she was certainly doing better than she had that first day in HiverSpace. She wasn't fainting! "The capitol, hm? That must mean what we've done is either a grave offense or one that doesn't happen very often. So they're either unfamiliar with this, or they want to make an example out of us. If pillaging and destroying passing vessels were a common occurance, they'd have done it here or to a far less important location, correct?" Norran ponders aloud, glancing about as if expecting someone to join him in his considerations. Varal wears his ignorance like a set of armor, and makes himself comfortable. "If they were going to do something terrible, they'd have done so by now. Putting us in their capitol should be a positive sign." The exchange between Tamila and Bri finally gains enough of Snowmist's attention for her to snort with wry amusement. "Money? Do we even know what the current exchange rate is 'tween these folks an' Comorro?" she interjects dryly. Tharsis follows along behind the vessels, keeping a close eye on his manifold pressure as he does so. After about 15 minutes of travel, a planet appears in the view screen towards which the vessels head. Another transmission comes through the speakers. "Land at these coordinates and disembark." comes the order. "No point in arguing I suppose.." Tharsis mutters as he angles himself for a landing and proceeds into the atmosphere, which whistles past as he descends. Eventually, a sprawling city appears before him, and he heads towards the spaceport at the far end. The city is brightly lit as it is nearing dusk, and the sun is beginning to sink low on the horizon. Moving into position over an empty pad, he fires his ventral thrusters and lowers down to settle onto the pad. "If nothing else, it has been eventful, yes?" Subhan interjects with nervous humour, a glance finally taken towards the viewscreen, and then around at the others. Bri looks back at Tam, "That'll only help some of the problems. There's the...other part," she says softly. Her eyes shift to Mist, a smile coming to her lips, "There's always a way, even if it's just barter, you know?" she says with a shrug, "But we gotta feel the place out first. Learn how things work there." "That's true," Tamila says, as she looks towards Varal. "So we've either broken some treaty we didn't know about, or they want to bring us in so they can talk with us or welcome us." She takes a deep breath as she thinks, until the interruption from Snowmist. "Numerous things can be used as money, kitty cat. Currency. Unfortunately, you're stuck in the tourist mindset and need it to be creds to get your head 'round thin's." She motions towards Varal, Subhan and Norran. "Now, I bet you these folk know how the barterin' system. I reckon they might be the key in, I dunno, like where in the name of Akari we are. That there is a profit for us in the way of information. Anythin' else, that's a nice side deal." "It was a joke," Snowmist shrugs, waving one hand vaguely as she releases her chair's restraints. "But in the end I think the priority's gonna be how t'get Tharsis fixed an' get back t'Comorro, yes?" Standing, she stretches with a fine ripple of fur down her spine before eyeing the viewscreens with flattened ears. "I've got some appointments 'm gonna miss already. Would hate t'ditch on anymore." "Assuming they've ever heard of Comorro, of course," Norran points out, rising from his seat to stretch his arms above his head. Norran manages a calm smile, "Time to depart, I'd assume. It'd be rude of us to keep them waiting. Ah," he notes, offering a hand to Subhan to help her up. "If you're feeling a little uneasy, you can use me for support, Cousin." Plumpaw stays curled on the couch, her fur sticking out in a disarray of chunks and fluffs. It gives her a haggard, upset look, complete with wily ears darting to and fro as much as her tail twitches. "...I don't like it." She states quietly. Tharsis brings his avatar online and it shimmers into view near the pilot's seat. Opening a panel, he pulls out a small device that he straps to his 'wrist', and his image flickers a bit. "This is an experimental version with kinetic recharging.. now's as good a time as any to test it, I suppose." He begins to head aft. "I think we'd better get out there before they decide to open up on us, and the last thing I want to be is riddled full of holes." The group is ordered to disembark, and they emerge onto an alien landing pad... As the group steps out of the ship, they are met by a semi-circle of very large armed humanoids with the gruff appearance of soldiers. Each has a large rifle pointed at them. Their appearance is much like ancient Neanderthals from Earth, but their eyes betray intelligence and alert thought as they observe the group. The one in the center, decorated a bit more than his troops, steps forward and speaks. Tharsis' device brings out the translation. "Follow us. You are prisoners of the Kingdom of Lothan, and will now face His Majesty for judgement. No tricks, or you will be shot." The soldiers envelop the group, and motion for them to head into the customs office. Norran pauses a moment as he departs to close his eyes and breathe deeply of the air, glancing up afterward toward the sky with a content smile on his face. He moves awkwardly at first before he can walk normally, glancing around the pad curiously and setting his eyes on their captors. Merely nodding in response, he walks to join the procession through the pad as he looks around the area. Tamila makes her way down the ramp, hands by herside and keeps away from the weapon at her side. She spots the weapon being pointed at her and simply rolls her eyes. Nothing is said as she moves with the group and she doesn't try anything. Subhan remains close to Norran, the Baroness a bit too overwhelmed to appreciate the sight of open spaces, the fresh air and the freedom, relatively speaking, of being planet-side, rather than on Comorro. Varal flanks Norran, crossing his arms. He stares at the assembled soldiers with mild annoyance. "At least they have a sensible form of governance," he notes to Norran. "A point in their favor." Bri makes her way out behind Tam, her hands also at her side, "Interesting," she says looking at the guns pointed at them. "Judgment? Judgment for what?" Snowmist mutters beneath her breath, ears slanting backward with an unhappy droop of her whiskers as she brings up the rear of the party. "Why's it they can't treat us like the lost an' abandoned folk that we are?" Plumpaw plods after Tamila and Bri, with her arms wrapped around her stomach. She watches the large, armed gaurds with wide eyes in a mix of surprise, consternation, and dismay. She flicks an ear and opens her mouth to say something, but clicks it shut with a scratch at her jaw. Tharsis simply offers a nod as he moves to follow the soldiers. The group is led to the customs office, where anything resembling a weapon is examined, and then taken by one of the soldiers and placed in a large bag that is slung over his shoulder. After the customs office activities are finished, the group is led into a hoverbus that takes them through the town. The various citizens, also appearing like Neanderthals, watch curiously as the group is driven to the gates of a large castle perched on a slight hill in the center of town. They are led by gunpoint through the castle's grand hall into what appears to be the throne room, which also has benches for observers to sit. They are led to a bench in the front and the leader motions for them to sit. "Sit still and don't move. The Wrr'Gotan'Togat will hear your case momentarily." Throne Room This room is massive, serving not only as a throne room but as a multi-purpose room where audiences can be seated to watch the procedings. From the doorway to the main hall a wide walkway leads between two blocks of seating areas, each with 10 rows of large stone pews that can seat 15 people each. A plush red carpet runs along the walkway to cover the stone floor and ends at the steps that lead up to a large dias where a gilded throne is perched, surrounded by plush red velvet curtains and a gilded coat of arms above to hold their center corners in place. A smaller red carpet runs to an ornate wooden doorway on the left side wall. "I don't particularly mind. It's been too long since I've been on solid ground, the trip was not wasted if just for this. They say they have a Kingdom, so perhaps our experience will aide us for once in this realm. We shall see." Norran continues along, frowning as his weapons are taken but not resisting. He spends the entirety of the trip with his eyes glued to the scenery, giving an arch of his brow toward the castle. "Now things are starting to look very familiar. Grander than Fastheld Keep, perhaps," he notes as they're led through, taking his seat once ordered and settling down. His expression remains entirely curious. "The magistrate, I assume?" "They'll bloody well regret it if I don't get that sword back," Varal states to no one in particular as he looks about. He was at least diplomatic enough to not complain about having the item taken away. Norran gets a shrug. "Perhaps." Unsurprisingly, Subhan sticks by Norran, taking a seat beside him just as she had upon the ship. She has no weapons to be taken, so that bit of fussing doesn't last long in regards to her. Tamila looked disappointed when her longsword was taken, but didn't protest and even offered a bright smile to the customs officer. She remains sitting on the stone bench, eyes quickly flitting around the area as she regards the thrown room. "Bein' the high-ups back home, it might help you guys give the rest of us an idea 'bout what might happen," she quietly comments to Varal and Norran. Bri watches the landscape quietly on the ride over. She doesn't seem to respond to much at this point, her eyes simply watching. And as they approach the palace..still not much of a reaction from the little Sivadian. Plumpaw spends most of the trip studying the people with a morbid curiosity that fades even her ill stature. She hands over her identical knives with no fuss, fishing them out of sheathes in the back of her vest, and files along most obediently. Snowmist gives up what she carries with only a wistful sigh, trooping along in line with the others like any good inmate. Seated with arms folded, throughout the trip and their current setting, she cranes her head often in obvious curiosity, eyes running over every inch possible from their vantage point; tail tip ticking a steady beat. Tharsis takes his own seat, looking around a bit himself. "We sure haven't been invited to a party, that's a given." he says, settling into wait. After a few minutes, local citizens begin to file into the room and take seats in the remaining benches. A murmur in the local language fills the room as they begin to converse among themselves. This continues for several minutes until all goes quiet as the door to the left opens, the guards in the room snap to straight-as-a-rod attention, and the crowd respectfully stands as a man emerges from it. The new arrival bears a heavy ornate crown on his head, and wears a cape over a very plush and ornate suit befitting one of the ancient Terran kings. As he reaches the throne, he turns, and makes a waving motion, at which the crowd sits back down. Norran gives a nod. "You could say that I presided over several of these, though this is not the Tribunal and this is not Fastheld. I'm unaware of the laws governing this place, and we are apparently being brought before the King himself. All I can do is explain etiquette. Ensure to bow or kneel. Be extremely polite, address him appropriately and speak only when spoken to. He will likely choose one of us to represent us all-" he pauses immediately once the apparent King enters, growing absolutely silent as he watches the procedings. Varal quietly watches the monarch, almost paying more attention to everything else going on. Tamila gives a nod to Norran and goes silent herself as the King enters. She inclines her head politely and keeps it bowed. Nothing from her. The door from the main hall opens, and a procession begins to make its way down through the aisle towards the throne. A Lothan dressed in royal court livery leads the procession, while four armed guards surround a prisoner in shackles on both his hands and feet. Compared to the rest of the people present, this one has a distinctly Asian appearance to his face, while physically resembling the rest in build and size. The procession ends with the herald taking his place on the steps below and to the right of the throne to face the crowd. Meanwhile, the guards lead the prisoner directly before the throne. The defiance in his eyes is apparent, and he stands motionless staring at the man on the throne before one of the guards takes his rifle and slams the back of his legs, forcing him to crumple to a kneeling position. The crowd falls into complete silence as the herald takes a scroll he had been carrying and carefully unfurls it, holding it before him to read it. Instead of speaking the local language, he speaks in Terran Standard. The citizens can apparently understand him as they listen intently. "The court of Wrr'Gotan'Togat Ejat Nongtu is now in session. The spy of the Empire of Meiyo, Kogato Hitoshima, son of Emperor Hitoshima, has been brought to this court to face judgement. His crimes are espionage, and attempted murder. Prisoner, how do you plead?" Snowmist's head inclines back toward the front of the room as the show begins, her attention now riveted upon the spectacle. As if she were merely one of the many audience members, she unfolds her arms to rest them upon her knees, leaning imperceptibly forward with ears pricked to eye not only the king, but the retinue and guards placed nearby. Plumpaw settles in and watches silently. She picks at his clothing, adopting a light frown in her whiskers as she does so. She grooms the fur on he arm with her fingers consciously, and sets her tail to a methodic twitch as she observes their surroundings. Norran's brows raise in surpris, glancing side-long to Varal for a moment with an uneasy look before returning his attention back to the proceedings. Bri watches the proceedings in silence, keeping herself near to Tam though as she does so. "Show," Varal says softly enough that it won't carry far. "Scare us." Norran's look gets a shrug. Hitoshima's defiance continues as he remains deathly silent, his eyes locked on Nongtu. The herald waits several moments for a reply, but the expression on his face shows that he suspects it will never come. He then glances up at the king, who nods in return. The herald rolls the scroll back up, and steps off to one side. Nongtu rises from his throne, and descends the steps to stand above Hitoshima. "Your silence is sufficient admission of guilt in my eyes. I would have expected no less. You came with clear intents, and despite your best efforts, you were captured. Your father has once again failed in his attempts to assassinate me, despite sending one of his own sons to perform the task. He is as foolish as he is incompetent, and today your blood will be the price he pays for his insolence." With that, Nongtu reaches for the hilt of the sword slung at his side and draws it, holding it aloft. "For your crimes, the only punishment is death." The sword is swung down at Hitoshima's neck, and with a neat slice, his head flies off, a spurt of blood raining down as the now lifeless body slumps to the floor. The head, equally lifeless, rolls to a stop between Tamila's feet. A pair of guards retrieves the body and the head and takes them out of the hall. With the pool of blood still soaking the rug before the throne, Nongtu looks to Tharsis and the prisoners. "Bring the prisoners before me." he commands, and the guards turn to the group. "Get to your feet, and stand before the Wrr'Gotan'Togat." Bri watches in silence, "TK style," she says in a soft murmer. Snowmist's nose twitches and her tail's movements halt at the metallic scent of blood, her eyes flicking between the rolling path of the head and the slump of the body. "Well, they're decisive," she mutters beneath her breath, ears flattening against the back of her skull before she reluctantly stands when everyone else does. Growing up on TK might make people see things differently and a lot of different sights. Tamila just peers at the head and doesn't seem at all bothered by the presense of it against one of her shoes. However, the worry is more directed towards the executioner. When the group's instructed, she slowly stands up, grabbing hold of the material of Bri's jacket to get her to do the same. Varal rises to his feet, and nonchalantly approaches the throne as ordered - with everyone else, of course. Beyond looking perturbed by the display, Norran isn't all-too fazed by the experience. He rises to his feet once ordered, falling in line with the others to approach the dais. Plumpaw does her best not to sniff the air too obviously, disguising it in a few deep breaths that might be to ward off upset. "Coppery smell," she murmurs quietly to Tamila and Bri, her interest on the people focused once again. Tharsis rises with the group to stand before the king, his eyes as wide as saucers as he observes the blood. "Damn..." he mutters softly as he takes his place As the group assembles, one of the guards looks to be ready to force them to their knees, but instead Nongtu waves them off. Turning, he returns to his throne and sits, observing the group for several moments. Finally, he speaks. "It is apparent to me what you are, but who you are, how you got here, and why, are the questions that I will now attempt to find the answers to. Be warned, humans, and the alien things with you, your answers will dictate your fate. Treat these questions as if your life depended upon them, for it most certainly does. My first question: Do you or do you not originate from Earth?" Subhan rises as ordered as well, again, keeping near Norran, silent. Varal looks at Subhan and Norran, then back at the king. "Us three, Your Majesty, do not." Snowmist does not bother answering the question, her case being rather obvious. Instead, she is glancing toward her own companions to catch their reactions. Tamila offers a curtsy towards the king when the group stops, but still continues to keep her head inclined. "I am from Tomin Kora, your Majesty," she offers politely. Bri also steps forward, offering a rather formal and courtly bow, "I am not. I originate from a planet called Sivad," she says politely, her eyes meeting the King's as she stands there calmly. Plumpaw sides with Snowmist and watches the others a moment before she answers. "I do not, either, your Majesty." She answers most carefully, with a delicate shake of her head. "As my companion has stated, Your Highness, we three do not. We hail from the Empire of Fastheld. The others are of various other regions," Norran speaks clearly through his cultured accent, keeping his head lowered. Nongtu puts a hand to his rough chin as he considers the answers. "To our knowledge, the expedition of our ancestors was the only colonization effort undertaken by man before the GDV destroyed humanity." he says, leaning forward. "Therefore I must find your answers suspect, but as I have no means to determine their truth, I can only see them at face value. The vessel you came in is unlike anything we have seen. My troops report that your vessel simply appeared in our space a mere sector from our homeworld. You were carrying armaments, and despite the relative lack of arms upon your vessel, that alone gives me reason to suspect your motives are not as pure as you would like me to believe." Varal remains diplomatically quiet. Subhan allows Varal and Norran to speak on her behalf, the noblewoman keeping her head bowed respectfully. Her nervousness shows in how a hand grips to Norran's arm, the other trembling as it grips the front of her skirts. Norran, unaware as he is of the earlier circumstances, does the same as Varal. He doesn't begrudge Subhan, remaining still. "We've hit some rough spots afore," Snowmist finally speaks up. "Surely y'can't fault us for carryin' enough for self defense." Plumpaw swerves both ears to attention at the king, and bristles her whiskers. Perhaps she might have piped up, but she held her tongue while Snowmist spoke up, and cast a glance at Tamila. "Your majesty," Bri says calmly, "If you are going to get down to semantics then I suppose that all of us are in some way decended from Earth humans. If you want to get that technical, but most of us are seperated from that heritage by thousands of years. So in that respect, we are not directly from Earth, no. Those of us that are of human lineage that is." She glances to the Fasthelders, "Except them. I don't know where if they decend from Earth or not." "My most humble apologies, your highness," Tamila says. "We had an accident - a bad one. We ended up being pulled through a wormhole, and just managed to escape." She takes a breath, as she raises her head a little with confusion on her features. "Your highness, I mean no insult or slur, but I do not know what the GDV is." Tharsis watches curiously, being from neither remains silent as he watches the discussion. Nongtu raises an eyebrow. "You say then, that you can trace roots to Earth.. yet our ancestors left as the Genetic Devolution Virus was wreaking havoc upon the planet. No one was expected to survive. Yet, you say you are far descended from Earth, which means some must of survived." he says, putting a hand to his chin once more. "A fact our ancestors did not realize. They left Earth in the early 21st century to escape the plague, only to find that one of their own had it already. The crew began to de-evolve, but many of them stopped at this level, retaining their human characteristics but suffering from vastly altered forms. That was nearly 6 centuries ago." he says, leaning forward to observe the group. "I have much to think about in regards to this before I can come to a judgement. Guards, take them to the holding cell. I will render judgement in the morning." Bri leans in toward Tam, "Alternate universe?" she asks the TKer, "You think? I mean...the oldtimers are from an alternate Orian Arm, so why not, right?" Norran, not really understanding a thing that was said, can only bow his head and fall back in line to be escorted out. Varal allows himself to be directed towards the holding cell without a fuss. Snowmist releases her breath in a huff, ears flattening sideways in unhappiness. Yet, what can be done at the moment? She turns with the others, marching along...letting her peripheral vision guide her steps in theirs, while she continues looking about; scanning their path. Tamila leans a little towards Bri. "I don't know anythin' 'bout history," she says quietly. "We could be back in our universe for all I know." She lets herself be lead out. They are led to the dungeon... Prison Cell Not set up for comfort, this cell is made of hewn stone and consists of a room with three walls of stone and the front 'wall' being made of heavy steel bars, with a door fashioned out of some of the bars with a heavy lock. An oddity among the medieval setting of the cell is a pair of flourescent lights that are set into alcoves cut in the stone, protected by thick steel cages. The room has six sets of bunk beds and a bucket in one corner for toilet facilities. "Ah, I usually threw people inside of these and not stayed in them. However, compared to Fastheld Keep's dungeons this is practically Wedgecrest Falls. At least it's not cramped like before," chuckles Norran, wandering calmly to claim the first bottom bunk he can manage and settle himself in. "Well, that went particularly well. We finally find a real isle and the first place on our visitation route are the royal dungeons. Unfortunately I didn't quite understand a thing he was asking about, so I opted to keep silent. They're rather hard-line against assassins, we would've at least given him a decent trial before hanging him." Category:hiverspacelogs